A Hatake For Christmas
by Mind's Eye View
Summary: And it's all because she hates the holidays... KakashixAnko WILL BE FINISHED SOON


que es? un introducion a comienzo de la historia?!  
anyway...horrible spanish aside...  
this is my sorry excuse for a kakashixanko fic. i've been working on it for... maybe a week or so? i had a really good idea for it but, it was supposed to be a oneshot, and, well, i tend to move things along slowly. so, instead of just deleting all of it, i'm going to post the unfinished product XD. beware of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors (i'm too lazy to go back and fix them). i'd really like to finish it... perhaps if enough people will want to read it. but i'd have to totally revamp the POV and it would definitely not be a one-shot. too long... (wolfie-chan, not all of us have the patience to read a 34 page one-shot :P). enjoy it or don't. i don't really mind either way. and this piece is totally flammable, so flame away :D

i do not own naruto or any of the characters created by masashi kishimoto. however, all other characters belong to myself unless otherwise specified - ariana

* * *

**a hatake for christmas**

The Hokage frowned as she rifled through yet another stack of papers her aide had placed in front of her. Winter was always the busiest season; small villages raking for help with bringing in the last of their crops, nobility requesting nearly half of her shinobi to assist in decorating their homes for lavish parties, and she'd even had an application from a daimyou's wife for a company of ANBU to guard her while the woman did her holiday shopping. And while all of these missions seemed _vital_ to Shizune, Tsunade would have much rather gone outside with a warm bottle of sake and watched the children out front play in the snow.

Her aide snapped her fingers sharply when she noticed the older woman was beginning to rush through the piles of request forms. "Don't get sloppy now, Lady Tsunade. Remember what happened last." she reminded her superior in a polite but stern tone. The blond rolled her eyes and grudgingly brought the papers she had dropped in the 'A', 'B', 'C', and 'D' trays back in front of her.

"Team Ten handled the job pretty well." she mumbled while attempting to actually read over a plea for a squad of genin to help bottle preserves on one of the larger farms in the Land of Fire. She felt the jounin's chakra flare and the Sannin groaned mildly under her breath. Leaning forward on her desk, she rested her chin on a hand and picked up a new request, knowing that she was in for a boring lecture about responsibility.

"You assigned them on an A-rank escort for a major CEO of the Land of Steel and they barely made it back! Luckily Asuma-san informed us and we were able to send a back-up squad after they barely defeated the third group of ronin that attacked, or none of them might have made it back! Honestly Lady Tsunade, you need to be more careful when looking over the missions. And 'skimming' won't do. It's your duty as Hokage to treat each inquiry equally, with the utmost respect and attention."

"They came back in one piece, didn't they? And besides, you had me up all night reviewing reports. Can I help it if I'm a little eager to take a well-deserved break?" she stated plainly with a bleary blink of her eyes, as if to emphasize the magnitude of her fatigue. "I could really use a rest Shizune. I think I'm getting carpal tunnel, and I'm starting to get tunnel vision." she continued, letting out a soft whimper as the jounin continued to glare at her.

A soft oink from the corner caused both kunoichi to glance over at the small pig. Tonton stared lazily at the two women, emitting another grunt as she stood up and moved away from her warm bed. She trotted over to Tsunade's desk and looked expectantly at her owner. "See Shizune? Even Tonton thinks I deserve some Tsunade-time. Come on… I'll even take her with me. I'm sure she could use the exercise." the woman offered with a coy smile.

They stared at each other for a long moment before, with a drawn-out sigh, her assistant moved the papers she had been reviewing to her own desk and began correcting any mistakes the Hokage may have made. The woman didn't feel like pointing out to Lady Tsunade that she was, modestly, the best medic in the village, and could probably heal those ailments while asleep (or passed out drunk).

"You have ten minutes." the jounin told her, earning a wide smile from the fifty-four year old. Her boss, who had appeared on the brink of unconsciousness moments before, jumped out of her chair and grabbed the nearest bottle of her favorite drink before bolting out of her office with an excited Tonton on her heels. Shaking her head, Shizune took her seat beside the small fireplace that helped to take the chill out of the room and began to mark down team selections, wondering silently to herself how easily the woman could manipulate her underlings.

Outside, Tsunade gazed wistfully at the cloudy sky as she sat down beneath a covered bench and took a sip out of the porcelain bottle. It was surprisingly hard to get what she wanted, though she was the Hokage. But, like any good gambler, she always had a strategy. She brought the container to her lips again, but paused to watch Tonton take off through the deep snow. The little pig suddenly disappeared in a drift with a loud squeal of surprise, making the Sannin chuckle dryly.

"Something funny?"

She started at the voice, thinking for a second that it was Shizune, and that she had breached the ten-minutes. But, as she turned her head slowly to look behind her, she saw that it was not her aide, but Mitarashi Anko.

"Morning, Anko. Make yourself useful and join me for a drink." the busty woman patted the spot next to her and shook the contents of the bottle. The liquid swished enticingly, steam rising from the top and carrying the smell of alcohol to the jounin.

As if Anko needed any motivation to accept. It would be obnoxious to turn down a request given by the Hokage. Besides, she'd never turn down a free drink. "Yes ma'am." she stated with a playful salute and plopped down beside her boss. The jounin accepted the bottle with a grateful nod and chugged a few mouthfuls before wiping her lips on the back of her sleeve and handing it back to Tsunade. The other woman frowned as she took the considerably lighter bottle in-hand.

"Rough day?"

Anko sighed and slouched back in her seat. She was hesitant to answer, preferring to watch Tonton dig her way out of the snow and subsequently resume dashing around the small pond in front of the Hokage Manor. "I should've known this job was too good to be true." she muttered darkly, eliciting a nervous laugh from her superior. Relations with the other Kages had been strained, even though the Kazekage was still a loyal ally and friend to Konohagakure. Yet even his commanding influence couldn't bring the other Kages to accept Tsunade's position as the leader of Konoha. And all because she was a woman. The Raikage had protested the loudest, so, in an attempt to show some competent ruling and foster better negotiations with the Land of Lightning, Tsunade had assigned Anko to be an ambassador to Kumogakure.

"You're not going to quit on me, are you?" she asked, unable to keep the worry from her light tone. Anko's eyes narrowed as she watched Tonton chase falling snowflakes that whirled above her head.

"Of course not." she stated quietly, her lips twitching into a small smile. "The Fuuma is giving me all kinds of crap, though. Apparently they don't like it that a woman is the Konoha representative, even though some of their best fighters are female. And it doesn't help that the Raikage conveniently 'forgot' that he had to be somewhere else every-time I try to make a meeting with him. I'm just glad I've got some down-time to spend here, even if it is in the middle of winter."

Tsunade listened intently, fighting the urge to down the rest of the sake. With a reluctant groan, she gave the bottle to Anko, who grinned appreciatively and swallowed the rest of it. The Hokage figured the girl could use some cheering up, and she _did_ have a few more bottles stashed in the bottom drawer of her desk. The violet-haired kunoichi stared blankly at the sky, barely flinching as a cold wind whipped through her cloak and caused a flurry of powder to collect on her body.

"I hate winter." she said bluntly after a couple minutes' silence. Tsunade arched a brow at her. As Hokage, it wasn't her place to pry into the personal lives of her ninja. But as a fellow woman, she couldn't just sit by and watch Anko wallow in her misery by her lonesome.

"Why?"

Personally, Tsunade loved the season, even if it did signal the busiest time of the year. Everyone was so caught up in the holiday spirit, with the exception of a few stubborn villagers. She loved the cold as well; it gave her an excuse to sit beside a fire with a favorite book and a hot cup of cocoa. And the snow was just so beautiful… pure and wholesome, and it brought her immeasurable joy to watch the children play in the stuff. Although, she hadn't liked it so much when Naruto had stuck a bucketful of slush on her door and dumped it on her when she entered her office.

"It's so cold. And white. Such a boring color. Makes people act crazy." Anko grumbled as her lips formed into a slight frown. "Very crazy."

The Godaime took in Anko's disheveled appearance and the slight blush on her cheeks as the alcohol started taking effect. She was truly grateful to Anko; the woman had helped her out so much, even though what she had done was far beyond the call of normal jounin duties. Such as attempting to form an alliance with Lightning, a job Tsunade herself was supposed to be doing. But Mitarashi had so far come into her office nearly everyday since the ambassador had traded positions with Shiranui Genma in Lightning (in order to take a much-needed vacation), helping out with filing, scribing, and even running odd errands for the Hokage. Not to mention going on the occasional mission or two.

Anko had sacrificed so much for her, and listening to the jounin speak so disdainfully of the holiday season made up the older woman's mind. She was going to give Anko something special this Christmas. To thank her for all her help, and to prove that winter wasn't as bad as she thought it was. Now, all she had to do was figure out what to give her… Ah, well, she had time. The twenty-fifth was nearly a month away. Plenty of time to find the perfect gift.

"-and all of the kids get rowdier than normal. I mean, just the other day, that loud-mouth brat from the chuunin exam a couple years ago jumped me with a bunch of his clones and pelted me with snowballs! That kid has some issues…" Mitarashi's voice trailed off as her eyes focused on an approaching figure. The blush on her face deepened. Amused, Tsunade followed her gaze and hid her surprise as she saw none other than Hatake Kakashi striding towards them. True, he was incredibly intimidating - they didn't call him 'Master of a Thousand Jutsu' for nothing - but to see Anko react in such away was intriguing, to say the least.

"I believe _this_ belongs to you, Tsunade-sama." he called in greeting when he neared and placed Tonton on the Hokage's lap. "She tried to make off with my lunch."

"Thank you, Kakashi." she mused and scratched behind the pig's ear. Tonton collapsed on her mistress's lap, spent from all the running around, and licked the food stains off the fur around her mouth. "But… what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Team Seven?"

He shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "Yamato offered to take Naruto, Sakura, and Sai to the south for some survival training. They'll be gone for a few weeks, so I figured I might as well take advantage of their absence." Tsunade felt herself nod in agreement, though she couldn't help but feel annoyed that he hadn't come in for an assignment, since he now had the time to do some of the tougher missions.

He seemed to realize the thoughts running through her head and shrugged again. "Can you blame me for wanting to take a break?" So close to what she had said to Shizune not even a half-hour ago. She bit her lip but didn't reprimand him. After all, he _did_ have Naruto on his team, and one could tolerate the blond only for so long.

All the while, Anko had remained silent beside Tsunade, preferring to be ignored than noticed and possibly invited to join in the conversation. She shuddered at the thought.

"Well, Hokage-sama. I really need to be going. I'll see you later." she stood up a little too quickly, causing her to stumble a few steps forward as the world spun before her eyes.

"Careful."

Anko's eyes widened as she felt strong hands reach out to steady her. Whipping her head around, her eyes grew larger as she noticed Kakashi was the one that was keeping her from falling into the snow. Unable to stop herself, she yelped and wrenched away from him, consequently slipping on the frozen ground and landing in a pile of snow.

"Is she… okay?" Kakashi wondered with mild concern as the other jounin blushed fiercely and jumped to her feet.

"A little plastered, is all." Tsunade supplied as Anko took off at a wobbly run toward the eastern end of the village. At least, she assumed Anko's odd behavior was because of her recent inebriation. However, the other woman had started acting strangely only after Kakashi arrived.

A large grin tugged at Tsunade's lips as her devious mind went to work. She had to find something to give Anko, but wanted it to be a surprise. And she didn't exactly have the time to tail her and find out what she wanted. But Kakashi did have the time. And with his skill, he could easily follow Anko around the village and report back to her what he found out about the woman.

Shizune exited the office and stomped loudly down the stairs, knowing fully-well that the Lady Hokage could hear her. Still smiling fiendishly, she looked Kakashi over and nodded to herself. Yes, he'd do just fine.

The Hatake paled, not at all liking the look his superior was giving him. He hoped whatever was going on inside of her head was just some drunken musings, things that would only make sense if they had a few ounces of alcohol to help argue their cause. But he remained stoic as ever, fighting the urge to teleport back to his apartment as the woman got to her feet and motioned for him to follow her.

"_So much for a vacation."_ he thought glumly as he dutifully fell into step behind his Hokage.

-)-)(-)(-(-

"Your mission is to gather intelligence on Mitarashi Anko. For the next few weeks, I don't want her to so much as take a breath without you noticing, got it?" she stated brusquely while shuffling a new stack of missions.

Kakashi held her firm gaze with a blank stare, not quite knowing how to react to this new assignment. At least he wouldn't be going on some A-rank assassin task, but spying on Anko for a month? He couldn't decide which was worse. Not that he knew her on a personal level. And, if her actions while at work were anything to go by, he truly didn't want any insight on her daily life.

"May I know why?" he ventured to ask, ignoring the annoyed expression Tsunade adopted. Obviously, she had hoped he wouldn't ask her any questions.

"If you absolutely _must_ know, I'm attempting to find out what to give Anko for a present." she replied in an offhand tone.

"Get her dango. Problem solved." The thought had crossed her mind, but nothing short of a year's supply of the sweet dumplings would satisfy the Hokage. And convincing restaurant owners to give out free food for a year was a difficult task, Hokage or not. Besides, she'd much rather have the Hatake do the dirty work for her. So, she took a deep breath in an effort to calm herself and prevent from scaring the man away, then explained to him her reason in a level tone.

"Anko has been an especially big help to me. I'd like to give her something suitable, something that tells her how much I appreciate her assistance."

Kakashi remained unconvinced, but who was he to question orders from the Hokage? And anyway, it's not like he had anything better to do (at least, that's how Tsunade saw it). He didn't have a logical argument as to why he couldn't go on this mission, other than the fact that he'd much rather gouge out his mismatched eyes than take on the task.

His shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. With a lazy flick of her hand, he pulled out a notepad and pen from his vest. Tsunade leaned back in her chair with a smug grin and placed her fingertips together. "I expect reports every three days at 3:00 PM. And don't be late."

All she received in reply was a small nod, then the jounin formed a one-handed seal and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Still buzzed from her small victory (and a bit from the sake in her system), Tsunade thought this was an occasion worth celebrating, and pulled open the hidden drawer at the bottom of her desk… Only to find it empty.

"Shi-Shizune?!" the Godaime sputtered, her shocked eyes darting from the container-less compartment to her assistant. Dan's niece boasted an innocent smile as she dropped a large pile of manila folders on the Hokage's desk.

"Back to work, Lady Tsunade! You'll get a drink when we're done." she quipped cheerfully before returning to her own desk.

Eyes twitching, Tsunade 'tsked' sharply before grabbing a bold red pen and starting on the papers with renewed vigor.

-)-)(-)(-(-

Day One.

He'd only been shadowing Anko for a short while, but Kakashi was already counting down the hours until he was free. 501 hours, 17 minutes, and 14 seconds, if his calculations were correct. Which, more often than not, they were.

Kakashi had followed her around literally the entire village. She had first stopped by the entrance to the village and chatted with Izumo and Kotetsu. The two chuunin had greeted her warmly, leading to a conversation that lasted a quarter of an hour. And the only knowledge Kakashi gained through the exchange was that Anko's feet were hurting and that she had a draft in her apartment. Not exactly 'need to know' information.

Then, the jounin had headed to the shopping district, no doubt to purchase a new pair of shoes to ease the pains in her feet. Kakashi watched Anko from his vantage point on one of the water towers. She strode confidently down the snow-packed streets, occasionally talking to a person or two, and even threatening a few kids after she'd been on the receiving end of a few snowballs, but mostly, she kept to herself. He'd seen her glance into a few store windows, and not the ones he would have guessed. Instead of looking at weapons or food stores, she'd actually stopped in a clothing store (and came out wearing a new pair of sandals), a beauty salon, and even a bookstore.

Right now, she was halted in front of a jewelry store's display window and gazing at the intricately crafted metals and polished gems. Visualizing Anko; gritty, tomboy Mitarashi, as an actual girl, wearing dresses, using product, and all, was too much for the jounin to handle. He began laughing and ended up leaning against the water distiller for support after his legs started trembling. When he was able to focus again, Mitarashi was gone.

Figuring he had enough data for one day, he jotted down a few extra notes on his pad before leaping onto a nearby roof-top and heading for his own building.

-)-)(-)(-(-

Day four.

Though Kakashi had done the impossible - arriving on time for the meeting - Tsunade hadn't been that impressed with the intelligence he had gathered.

"When I told you to find out things about her, I didn't mean the normal stuff." she berated him, though the masked ninja didn't feel very guilty. He'd faithfully written down Anko's entire schedule, from 5:15 am when she woke up (technically, 7:29 am would be more accurate, as she didn't become entirely active until then) all the way to 1:14 am (it sometimes fluctuated between 12:45 and 1:47) when she passed out on her bed.

"I apologize Hokage, but it was to my understanding that you wished to know about Mitarashi-san." he stated slowly, politely, so as to not upset the woman. She may be old, but the Sannin could cause some major damage regardless.

Tsunade's eyes lowered into a silky glare. She knew enough about the Hatake to tell that he was exasperated with her. A good thing that the feeling was mutual.

"I want to know her habits. What she likes and dislikes, where she goes during her breaks, things like that."

Kakashi's shoulders hunched slightly as he fought the urge to argue. Anko had been under near twelve hour surveillance, if all of the times were averaged together; and what the Hokage was asking for would require the entire twenty-four hours. But he knew it would be no use to fight her. She'd support her decision until she went hoarse in the throat, and Kakashi knew he'd end up getting bored halfway through her rant and look for something to amuse him, which would only incur her wrath further.

He inclined his head, showing he understood his directive, and disappeared from the office using a teleportation technique.

)-()-(

The jounin had thought she'd at least provide some entertainment; he'd heard about her erratic behavior, and the few times he'd come in close contact with her, she'd lived up to her knuckle-head reputation. But the woman he saw now was quiet. Withdrawn. Oblivious. In other words, boring.

She'd been sitting at the same bench in the park for over an hour, just glaring at the playground construct. He could tell, from his position in a nearby tree, that she wasn't watching the kids play on it; her eyes were unfocused, and didn't lock on to any movement made by the children. The tokubetsu was most likely deep in thought, or her movements were dulled by the level of her alcohol consumption.

Kakashi shook his head and leaned back against the trunk of the large oak he was seated in. Anko wasn't even trying to pose as an interesting subject. Perhaps, if he asked her to at least live up to her reputation, he'd be inclined to actually do his job and watch her. But, that might elicit the wrong response from the jounin.

No, he decided. It was worth a shot. Besides, the Hokage hadn't exactly forbade him from approaching Anko. She'd just told him to find out more about the kunoichi. And what better way than to interrogate her?

He shuddered at the thought, but, with this line of logic, he figured he was actually disobeying orders by not speaking with her. Kakashi pushed himself off the branch he was seated on and, ignoring the painfully loud crunch of snow each time he took a step, walked over to Anko.

The woman didn't seem to notice him, though he stood not even a foot away. His chakra was subdued just enough to keep from causing unease among the villagers. It was by no means undetectable, and at this close proximity, she should have been able to know his exact longitude and latitude. But she didn't even notice him.

The man toyed with the idea of pressing a kunai to her throat, as she had done to his student near the start of the chuunin exams so long ago. But he was sure it would startle her, and he didn't want to be at the brunt of the tokubetsu's anger. Anko wasn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the pouch, and she seemed the type to attack first and never ask questions. So, instead, he cleared his throat quietly and waited for her to acknowledge him.

It took a few minutes. As if waking from a deep sleep, Anko blinked her eyes quickly and turned her head to see the stoic Hatake Kakashi looking down at her. They stared at each other for a few moments before Anko seemed to realize what was happening and jumped to her feet.

"What the hell! Do you like going around scaring people?" she snarled while clutching a kunai tightly in her fist. Kakashi chuckled softly and brought his hands in front of his body, showing that he meant her no harm.

"Easy." he murmured, maintaining a laid-back stance so as not to enrage her further. He waited patiently, and after a few drawn out seconds, she let out a shuddering breath and relaxed her stance. Now over her initial fright, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Why are you out here anyway?"

He shrugged. "I noticed you'd been acting strangely, so I thought I'd come over and see if I could help."

Apparently, his answer wasn't good enough, because she crossed her arms and inclined her head defiantly.

"Are you spying on me?" she demanded, her lips twitching as if the idea of Kakashi taking an interest in her was a joke.

He rubbed the back of his head with one hand while the other twitched toward his vest for his book, a habit he had adopted when unwilling to answer something. Thankfully, Anko didn't know him well enough to realize it.

"What makes you say that?"

Her eyes were mere slits as she returned to her spot on the bench, blatantly ignoring his question. _"Quit being so critical. Maybe he actually is concerned about you."_ she thought, but shook her head and quickly discarded it. _"Why should he have reason to be concerned about me?"_ That was the real question.

"Why are you acting strangely?" he wondered. Anko stiffened as he took a seat next to her and made himself comfortable by draping his arm over the back of the bench. She could feel the heat coming off him in great waves, and her cold body shuddered longingly and leaned instinctively into the source of heat.

But Mitarashi caught herself in time, and leaned forward to prop her elbows on her knees instead. She'd rather freeze to death, she figured, than cuddle up to Kakashi for warmth. No matter how badly she wanted to.

Said object of warmth sighed out of exasperation when he realized the woman wasn't going to open up to him. The awkward silence lasted another five minutes before the jounin gave in to temptation and pulled out his current obsession, Icha Icha Tactics.

He'd just gotten to the next page when Anko shifted suddenly. In his ANBU days, he would have been on his feet with a kunai drawn before he even realized it. But having students (the clumsy, loud, energetic kids that they had been, and were still) had desensitized him to the point where he registered the motion but wasn't put on alert by it.

Kakashi managed to read another paragraph before his focus was forcibly drawn back to the kunoichi.

"Is something the matter?" he questioned her coolly, not quite understanding why the purple-haired jounin was making odd choking noise. _"Perhaps she mistook a rock for a dumpling and swallowed it"_ He shook his head at the absurdity of the thought, but, given her history, he wasn't ruling it out.

Just when he was about to perform a Heimlich maneuver on the gasping woman, she seemed to regain control of herself, and merely stared at him. _"What now…"_ He was beginning to think she was touched in the head.

"W-Where did you get that?" she inquired.

Kakashi glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, wondering what on earth she was talking about. Self-conscious, he looked over his outfit, trying to find the something that would have caught her interest. Perhaps a shiny zipper, or maybe she caught her reflection in his hitai-ate…

"I didn't know Jir-jisan came out with a third installment." she murmured, her fingers reaching tentatively to the innocently-bound book.

He was unable to keep his composure. In a state of utter shock, he sat frozen as Anko gently pried the book from his twitching fingers. She ran her hands greedily over the cover, though she made sure to mark the page the silver-haired man had been reading. "I've been waiting years for this…" she continued in a hushed tone, smirking gently as she flipped open to the first page and began reading. A blush formed on her face, increasing with each sentence until she slammed it closed suddenly and sighed, hugging it to her chest.

Anko became aware of her companion only after he cleared his throat and gestured meekly for his book. Now blushing from embarrassment, Anko willingly returned the novel to its rightful owner and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry. It's just, Jiraiya got me hooked on the series back when-" she cut herself off and trembled lightly, though it wasn't from the cold. "When I was younger. He had me proof-read his drafts sometimes when Or-… my sensei… was busy." She shrugged and brushed a bit of snow off her shoulders, as if realizing the weather for the first time.

It was Anko's turn to be concerned for the person sitting beside her. The jounin was still stunned that someone else actually liked his favorite series, and apparently, as much as he did. His mind still couldn't quite comprehend the fact, especially because of who she was. Kakashi hadn't really expected the obnoxious tokubetsu to share his appreciation in literature.

"You feeling okay?" She noticed Kakashi hadn't moved since she first took the book, and she was afraid she'd broken some unspoken rule about 'respecting other people's property' or something. "I got a bit carried away, I guess." she mumbled, looking down at her hands as she wrung them in her lap.

Her demure posture seemed to snap him out of it, for Kakashi blushed slightly and placed the book back into his vest with a tender pat. "I never expected anyone else in the village to have read it." he admitted with a sheepish chuckle.

The woman seemed heartened by the admission, her eyes locked onto the rectangular-imprint in his vest. "I'll have to pick that up at the store when I have the time." she mused, too intent on remembering the cover design to notice Kakashi was staring at her.

"I'm afraid it won't be coming out for another few months, if we're lucky." he stated softly, though the woman heard him all the same. Her expression clouded over as she sighed and leaned forward on her elbows, dejection evident in her very posture. "But you can borrow it though. I'm nearly finished." he added as an afterthought. For some reason, he couldn't stand to see proud Anko looking so depressed. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and as he steadily regained his awareness, he noticed Anko was smiling. Not grinning. Not smirking. But actually smiling.

"I'd like that very much."

He didn't understand why Anko's smile made his insides churn. Well, prior to this moment, he would have. Picturing a true smile on her face was like imaging an ass (donkey) with lips. Yet the feeling wasn't as unpleasant as he thought it would be. His lips twitched as he fought the effort to return her smile, and succeeded.

They stared at each other for a few minutes, feeling more awkward with each passing moment.

Kakashi finally broke the silence.

"Well, I should get going. The Hokage has me working on some boring assignment for the next month that apparently needs my undivided attention." He stood up and brushed off the snow that had collected on his body. Anko followed suit, hiding her disappointment behind her usual smirk.

"Then I hope your mission gets exciting." she simpered, her usual childishness returning. Kakashi rolled his eyes but set off through the ankle-deep snow, intent on making a wide circle and coming back around to shadow her from a different vantage. "I hope so too." he murmured, more to himself, as he headed for a cleared path where his foot-prints wouldn't show.

-)-)(-)(-(-

Day eleven.

As was expected of her at 1:36 pm, Anko was sitting at her usual bench in a nearby park, devouring her afternoon lunch of dango and sake. Not exactly healthy, but Kakashi wasn't about to confront her about her unbalanced diet. _Enjoys dango and sake. The bread soaks up most of the alcohol, which allows her to drink more and eat larger amounts. Her active lifestyle ensures she burns off the calories she consumes._ He scribbled down in his note pad, noticing for the first time that Mitarashi did, in fact, possess a nice body.

But, even an idiot would know to dress warm in this weather (Kakashi himself had a scarf wrapped around his neck and a second long-sleeved shirt under his jounin vest), but Anko seemed oblivious to the cold, wearing nothing but a tan trench-coat, fishnet shirt, and a short skirt. He wondered vaguely if she was suicidal; it was snowing steadily now, and with the majority of her skin exposed, Anko had a 78% increased chance of obtaining frostbite if she remained as she was.

The woman hadn't truly done anything worthy of notice in the past few days. She continued to remain placid, doing as she was told by the Hokage and performing her duties with only enough enthusiasm to have them completed in time. Perhaps it was the cold that was making her sluggish; dressed the way she was, it would effect her twice as badly. He found himself approaching her again, as he had nearly a week ago, though he went about it cautiously. It wouldn't do him any good if he ended up impaled by a handful of used dango-sticks for scaring her again.

So he made sure to walk where the snow was weakest, though his survival instincts screamed otherwise. Yet he was safe in the village… why should he worry about being silent? Especially when he wanted to be noticed, this time. Anko didn't seem to register the noise until he was a good ten feet from her. Cocking her head, she chewed slowly on the dumpling currently in her mouth and seemed to debate whether or not she could take a swig out of the bottle and not choke.

"It's cold." he observed while taking his seat next to her. As was customary, he draped his arm over the back of the bench, yet sat a little closer than was necessary to the kunoichi.

"Sake keeps me warm 'nuff." she responded slowly, her eyes narrowing as she frowned at the last full stick of dango in her hand. Kakashi wondered if she was joking, or if she was just that exceptionally thick. Alcohol would only give the illusion of being warm, but would actually speed up the damage the cold would do to her body.

"Is that why you drink so much during the winter?" He decided the best way to inform her of her mistake would be a roundabout approach. Let her deduce on her own that simply consuming the beverage wouldn't actually keep the chill from entering her body. She turned her blood-shot gaze from the dumplings to his own exposed orb, her face contorted in an effort to control her fury.

"Whatcha mean? You been followin' me or summat?" she demanded, swaying slightly as she downed the last remnants of her drink. Kakashi was slightly taken aback by her sudden hostility, but would handle the situation like any experienced man would; admit he was wrong and hope she didn't pummel him.

"I apologize. I just assumed you drank more because it gave the illusion of warmth. It's a common misconception." he offered in his defense, hoping his submissive tone would soothe her.

Which it did.

Sort of.

Mitarashi hiccupped with bark-like laughter and slung an arm around Kakashi's shoulders. He was surprised by the sudden contact, but didn't voice his complaints. Anko was unstable, in temper and physically; she was using him as support, causing his shoulders to dip and knock their heads together.

"Good ol' Kikashi. Always got my back, eh?" She mused, the alcohol in her system dulling the pain in her head. "Tha's why I like you." she added, poking the unfortunate jounin in the chest with each word. His eyes widened slightly at her admission, but he let the statement pass. She obviously didn't know what she was saying. Or maybe he was thinking too deeply about her last statement.

"Come on. Let's get you home." he murmured, helping the intoxicated woman to her feet. Kakashi proceeded to direct her toward her apartment, not minding that he was basically dragging her as her legs weren't working properly. The woman also didn't seem to mind the fact that Kakashi somehow knew where her apartment was.


End file.
